I propose to take Questions Nos. 28, 30, 36 and 74 together.
The latest monthly report on the employment action plan, report No. 6, which is available in the Oireachtas Library, shows the outcomes for the 6,010 young unemployed persons who have been referred to date for supports under the plan. By the end of March 3,583, or 60 per cent, had been interviewed by FÁS. Of these, 1,343 or 37 per cent were placed by FÁS. Of the balance of 2,200, some 640 have already left the live register, 825 are awaiting training or are receiving ongoing FÁS support, a further 450 have dropped out and have been referred back to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs while the remainder are not yet ready to progress. With regard to those placed by FÁS, the latest data indicate that 56 per cent are placed in jobs and the remainder in FÁS training programmes or in education.
The progress report shows that a relatively steady proportion, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of interviewees, are not ready to progress into jobs or training. There is a number of reasons for this, including substance abuse, health issues and advanced state of pregnancy. Currently, an exercise is under way to determine the proportionate incidence of these with a view to designing appropriate rehabilitative or pre-employment programmes.
The data used by the INOU do not compare like with like and I am perplexed as to why they seemingly want to put the worst complexion on what are generally recognised to be positive outcomes.
Monthly report No. 6 provides the best objective overview of the outcome of the whole process. Key outcomes are the fact that by the end of March, some 56 per cent of all referrals had left the live register. Furthermore, some 80 per cent of those referred in September last, when the process first started, have now left the live register. Some 82 per cent of FÁS interviewees left the live register for positive reasons – 47 per cent for a job, 29 per cent for a training programme and 6 per cent to go back education. This compares well to the outcomes for those who did not attend for interview and subsequently left the live register, of whom 37 per cent went to a job. It is not surprising, given the current buoyant labour market, that young persons who did not attend the interview found a job as many of them would have been seeking employment and would have found a successful outcome themselves.
